1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a motor vehicle roof for selectively closing or at least partially exposing a roof opening in a fixed roof surface which has cover elements which border one another in a closed position to form a flat panel system, each louver being connected on a narrow edge thereof to a pivotable fastening element which is guided along a roof-mounted guideway for movement between a position in which the respective cover element is in the closed position and a position in which the respective cover element is filly swung out, two adjacent fastening elements being coupled for common motion in opening and closing directions until a first of the two fastening elements has reached the position in which the respective cover element is fully swung out, at which point the two adjacent fastening elements are decoupled enabling relative displacement of the second of the two adjacent fastening elements against the first as the second moves into the position in which the respective cover element connected thereto is filly swung out, and under the influence of motion of the second of the two adjacent fastening elements in the opening direction, the first fastening element is locked with a fastening element of a cover element already in the fully swung out position thereof, the locking being automatically released under the influence of motion of the second of the two adjacent fastening elements in the closing direction.
2. Description of Related Art
A generic motor vehicle roof of the type to which the invention is directed is known from German Patent Nos. DE 195 29 522 C1 and DE 195 29 702 C1. They describe a locking mechanism with a swivelling bolt block which securely interlocks adjacent fastening elements to one another under the direct influence of the opening motion of the fastening element which precedes these two fastening elements, i.e., without using a bolt block slide, as soon as these two fastening elements are swung fully out, or which unlocks them again under the influence of the corresponding closing motion. The disadvantage in this locking mechanism is that, in case of an accident, all the acceleration of the louver bundle must be accommodated by the locking between the last two fastening elements; this leads to failure of locking.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,160 discloses a similar motor vehicle roof in which the swung-out attachment elements are not locked among one another, but are each locked individually securely to the roof-mounted guideway. The locking elements are formed by bolt rockers which are pivotally supported in their middle section, and have on a bolt part on one end section and an actuating arm on their other end section. The bolt part fits into corresponding recesses in the roof-mounted guideway in the locking position.
The disadvantage is that, in this motor vehicle roof, the roof opening can only be opened from front to back, i.e., for example, the back part of the roof opening cannot be opened independently of the front part.
The primary object of this invention is to devise a motor vehicle roof with a series of cover elements, which has an automatically releasable locking mechanism which enables flexible opening and closing of the motor vehicle roof and also guarantees reliable locking in case of an accident.
This object is achieved as claimed in the invention proceeding from a motor vehicle roof of the initially mentioned type by at least some of all fully swivelled-out fastening elements being securely engaged to a common coupling element which can move along the roof-mounted guideway and which can be fixed relative to it.
In this approach of the invention, it is advantageous that the roof opening can be opened from the front and from the rear, and the locking mechanism of each individual fastening element is subjected only to a relatively small inertial force even in an accident.
In one advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the coupling element can be locked in at least one position to a roof-mounted guideway, preferably there furthermore being a coupling control part which can be driven along the guideway by a drive and which can be locked to the coupling element. This leads to safety in accidents.
In one advantageous development of the invention, the coupling element has a locking device for locking to the roof-mounted guideway or to the coupling control part, which is actuated by displacement of the coupling control part with respect to the coupling element in the closed position of the cover element combination, such that it releases the locking to the roof-mounted guideway and closes the locking to the coupling control part. When opening from front to back, this allows reliable fixing of the cover element bundle in the rear part of the roof opening, while opening is also possible from back to front selectively without additional driver interventions.
Preferably, the coupling control part is engaged to the rearmost fastening element such that displacement of the coupling control part along the roof-mounted guideway causes the rearmost fastening element to swing out or swing back. This makes actuation of the rearmost fastening element by a drive located forward unnecessary, so that a force transfer means from the front end of the roof opening to its back end is not needed.
It is also preferred that the coupling element furthermore comprises several members which are joined to one another with a pivoting capacity. This allows matching of the coupling element to arched roof shapes.
It is possible for the locking between the fastening elements and the coupling element to take place via a locking element which is made as a bolt rocker which is mounted to pivot in its middle section. On one end section, the locking element has a bolt part and on its other end section it has an actuating arm, the coupling element for each fastening element having a bolt recess for holding the bolt part. This represents a simple, and at the same time, reliable embodiment.
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which, for purposes of illustration only, show a single embodiment in accordance with the present invention.